His Daughter, renamed The Shadow Wolf
by dream.brother63
Summary: Rhianna is the forgotten daughter of a murdered prince. On her 18th birthday, she is suddenly summoned to the palace, where her uncle rules. With only her wolf companion for protection she must obey his wishes. but to what end?
1. Chapter 1

And he, brave hero,

_And he, brave hero,_

_Will live on in the memories of Phaerie-blessed Aria_

_He, golden prince,_

_Our saviour_

_-Eulogy of Prince Darinoth_

**Chapter 1**

All that I knew of my father I had learnt from tales and the breathy whispering of far-distant Court. Yet by the time those tales traversed time and distance to reach our eager ears here in Fallthorn, they were far warped from truth.

Because of this, I could claim no true knowledge of my birth my father at all and nor, in most respects, did I care.

As far as I knew my mother also did not live. Of her, the rumours and tales carried nothing. She did, as all women are wont to do in Aria's history, fade to nothing beneath her husband's splendour. And like my own fate, the flighty people of Aria quickly forgot her.

Perhaps if I had been a son there would have been a place for me at Court upon his death. But I was not a son, and Court was no place for the raising of any child, girl or boy.

The moment my father fell from his horse, fatally wounded in an enemy's unseen attack, and my uncle placed the Crown upon his own head, I was carelessly bundled up and sent away.

As far away, I suspected, as my uncle had been able to arrange.

But this also did not disconcert me. The Duke and Duchess who took me in, as one would a stray dog, treated me with a kind of bemused and casual affection that suited me well enough.

They fed me and clothed me, housed me in a pretty bedroom, and required me at social dinners. Beyond that point, they had not need for me in their household, and left me free to do with my time as I will.

They were shrewd enough people I knew, to understand that outside the Royal Court I had no political value and so they cared little for what I did in my own time. But still, even a useless princess is a novelty, and because I worked wonders for their social standing among the throaty aristocracy of the Borderlands, they kept me.

Because of their disinterest (they had sons of their own, what room had they in their hearts for a dead mans daughter?) I grew up how I wished, and in relative freedom. I was still expected to be about the mansion at night, but during the day was my own time.

For companionship, I turned to Fallthorn Forest itself.

It was an old forest, one steeped deep in the magic and mysteries of the Old World, before the Kingdoms of Aria came under human leadership. It was ferocious and dangerous as all truly wild things are, but beautiful too. And it was my home, I loved it as much as it would allow.

The nymphs of the air and water were my companions in the forest, and waited eagerly for me in the Sighing Glade each day for me to come running, hair flying, into their welcoming arms.

I did not understand how unusual this was, though looking back, I do now. The nymphs are shy, wary creatures, rarely appearing to human kind. That I, a mortal child, had been welcomed as a sister, I never questioned. If I had, perhaps they would have left me afterall.

They had something new for me each day, a small trinket perhaps, a new path through the forest I had not tried before, or a cool stream above which they fashioned a swinging vine, so we could climb up and then drop, shrieking, into the cool depths.

Each visit they came to me, and drew me further into their own world. Sometimes they would sit about me, laughing, as they played with my hair. Other times they would take hold of my arms and feet and fly up into the trees, so we could sit on a small branch and watch the sun-set, or perhaps rise.

Never did they ask my name, or where I lived, or whose child I was. (For always, I had been _his_ child, lookat _his_ child go. Look how beautiful she is, _his_ child Did any of my foster-family's guests know my true name? I knew not. But Nymphs had no care for names, and no interest in the mortal world. Nor did I ask theirs, or question their lives when they were away from me. We understood one another, and that was all we needed to be accepted.

XXXX

On my 10th birthday, they greeted with a companion.

As I fell through the trees into the glade, smiling a welcome and pulling small lily flowers from my hair, I sensed something different. An air of nervousness perhaps, uncertainty. I looked at them, struggling to understand, but their smiles were evasive.

"Come with us," they called, and danced away, hair flying, deeper into the forest.

I followed trustingly, as I had always done. The nymphs were mere glimpses before my eyes, but they led me unerringly, never allowing me to fall or trip or lose my way.

Finally, we came to a small clearing, and beyond that, a shelter made of branches and vines.

The nymphs stood about the shelter, and watched me closely as I approached. Their playfulness was gone, and they looked serious, even grave. I felt as if this was a test of some sort, and they were uncertain whether I would pass or fail.

I walked towards the shelter carefully, taking care to make no sound, as the nymphs had taught me. Slightly, I heard a faint whimpering, and bending down, I saw the source.

A small, silver wolf cub lay in a bundle of leaves, shivering.

A small sigh escaped me, and at the sound, the cub raised its head. I stared into his eyes, a crisp, summer-sky blue, and was in love.

I sat down quietly, holding out my hand to the small wolf. He reached out his nose delicately, sniffing quietly, and then slowly, slowly, rose to his feet.

He moved forward hesitantly, his eyes holding my own, and I saw a deep intelligence there that marred his air of youthful innocence. There was nothing of fear in this cub, he was judging my worth. That he hesitated at all saddened me.

Perhaps he saw the flare of pain in my eyes, or perhaps it was something else, but in an instant, he was in my arms, and I held him close, that small, soft body, and murmured quietly to him again and again.

_I am Ria, _I told him again and again, _I am Ria and these are my friends. Will you come with us?_

And to my surprise, he answered, the voice quiet, hesitant in my mind._ Will come. _His voice was like dark velvet, soothing and warm and _safe_.

I looked up, around me. The nymphs were standing back now, but their faces were tender, sad almost, and their eyes gentle, as they watched me and the small wolf. I wondered at their reasoning, for even I knew this was no ordinary wolf. A Phaerie creature perhaps? But why had they brought _me_ to him?

_What is your name?_

He answered, quietly, still sounding unsure, though he licked my face quickly. _Am called Moon Shadow. But you call Shadow. _

He said this with such quiet dignity that I smiled, and bowed me head to him courtesy. His coat was unusual, silver moonlight on the outer fur, but when you brushed your fingers through it was black as the night sky beneath. Moon Shadow indeed.

"Come sister, the sun is night setting, and we must get you home."

And laughing, their playfulness returned, they danced towards us and lifted Shadow and I up in their wispy arms, holding us tightly, flying through the trees as a wind sifts through the leaves.

And at the edge of the forest they halted, and went no further, staying within the shadow of the tress.

"Until tomorrow, sister-ours," they said, kissing my cheek gently, one by one. And like their voices, their bodies faded to nothing, and they were gone.

I looked at Shadow, standing still beside me. He stood straight and proud, watching me with those strange, intelligent eyes.

"Will you come with me?" I asked again, almost fearing the answer. I could not imagine this wolf inside the cold stone walls of the Dukes castle. But no longer could I imagine the dreary mortal world without him.

_Will come. _

XXXX

We woke as the sun rose, his body soft and warm beside me, and I realised that I had curled into him, my arm across his smooth, furry chest, holding him to me.

_Awake now. _His voice whispered in my mind, and I sat up, pushing myself away. He gave a small whine and nuzzled closer. I laughed.

"Awake means breakfast." I said, making my voice as firm as possible, and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I winced as the cold stone floors screamed the warmth from my feet.

With a sigh, I felt him stand, and on wobbly legs (for the mattress was very soft), he made his way over to the edge and leapt down. He looked at me quizzically and padded over to the door, waiting for me to open it.

I smiled and shook my head, "Dress first."

I slipped out of my nightgown and into the clothes the maid had set out for me the night before. They were the same always. A grey, thigh length tunic, black undershirt, black trousers and soft black boots. It was child's clothing. Even with my limited understanding of the way the world works I knew that when I turned 12, the maid would stop laying out child's clothing and start laying out dresses. I dreaded the day. How could you climb a tree in a dress?

I ignored the small voice in my head that whispered that young ladies in dresses didn't climb trees at all.

"Im ready," I said, making my way over to the door. As I prepared to turn the knob, I looked down at my small companion. And frowned. He was a wolf, and none would miss that fact. How would they react, even? Would he be allowed to stay? I hadn't thought of that when I accepted the nymph's generous offering. Hadn't thought about the fact that in the mortal world wolfs were hunted and killed.

_Wrong?_

His soft, hesitant voice pierced my thoughts and I shook my head. I would just have to hope for the best. There was nothing that standing my bedroom would do to change their minds, whatever their decision was.

And I had never lived by their rules before. Why would I start now?

XXXX

I entered the breakfast chamber quietly, and as usual, the Duke, Duchess and their sons took little notice of me. Only the Duchess looked at me, brief interest in her eyes, quickly gone. She did not notice the wolf at my side.

'Take a seat, Rianna," The Duke said indifferently, waving his hand negligently at an empty space between he and his eldest son, Lord Ronin. Ronin glanced over casually, he was leaning back in his chair, one booted leg up on the table, carving an apple calmly with his dagger, popping each piece into his mouth and chewing slowly.

I looked at him warily as I took my seat, and Shadow crawled under my chair, cautious too. But Ronin was looking across the table at his brother, who was reading a letter opened on the table before him.

"What did she say Michael?"

Michael, the younger son, didn't bother to glance up from the letter. "She said that she looks forward to our visit next summer. And to bring her some," he wrinkled his nose, "_dainty country fruit_." This last was said in disgust. "Whatever made you offer for her Ron? She's revolting."

Ronin shrugged casually, slicing off another piece of apple. "She has excellent connections. Once I get to Court, I'll break the engagement. She's done her bit in just getting me there."

Michael snorted and muttered something under his breath. I thought it sounded like 'heart-breaker'.

I glanced at the Duke and Duchess, but the Duchess (Anna was her name, though it was never used) was ignoring her sons, intent on the small catalogue of ribbons she'd placed on the table before her.

"What do you think of this one, Adrian? To go with the silver dress I ordered last week." She pointed out the ribbon to her husband, and with a sigh he looked over at appraisingly.

"It's lovely, dear."

The Duchess wrinkled her nose. "Really? You don't think it's a bit to…_bawdy_?"

The Duke was uninterested.

"It is at that" he murmured, waving a footman over and his tray of food. He speared some sausage and fruit and absently shoved them on my plate. Ronin, without even looking, handed me a piece of bread. I accepted the food quietly, and glancing around to make sure no-one was paying attention, slipped the sausage down off my plate and into Shadows eager mouth.

_Nice. _He sounded pleased.

The Duchess huffed in annoyance, and glared at her husband. "Well, it's obvious you don't care at all. Don't you want me to look nice for the Dukes visit here?"

Another Duke. I wrinkled my nose.

Adrian didn't look up from his food.

"Im sure you'll look lovely dear."

Shadow went unnoticed, and when breakfast was finished I left the mansion quietly.

The nymphs were waiting for, as they always did, smiles of welcome on their lovely faces.

"Come sister, into the woods we go!"

And they danced away, with Shadow and I following them joyfully.

XXXX

Shadow went unnoticed for two days.

On the third day, I sat next to Michael at breakfast.

He was, like his brother, arrogant in his charm and elegance. But he was quieter too, and calmer in his temperaments. Ronin had a terrible rage, and we all learnt to avoid him those times he let it loose.

I liked Michael, more than I did most others at the Mansion. He was intelligent and easy to talk to, and I knew that he missed few of the happenings of our small estate. He would make a good Duke, should Ronin be carried away into the glittering promises of the Royal Court.

He was, unfortunately, rather more observant than his brother, and seated next to me, he didn't miss the casual disappearances of the food on my plate for long. With a sudden exclamation on discovering the source of the disappearing food he pushed his chair back and jumped to his feet.

"_Fie_! But what is this?" he demanded loudly, startling a passing footman, who, upon discovering the outcry had nothing to do with him, hurried from the breakfast hall.

"A little beast? What is this, Ria, a little friend from your forest wanderings?"

The Duke and Duchess stood up, as did I, and Shadow crept out from his place under my chair and stood defiantly beside me.

"Well Ria?" The Duke looked wary, his eyes never the leaving the wolf cub. The Duchess stepped back a few paces from the table, but she kept silent. Ronin stayed seated, calmly slicing his apple, his dagger swift and efficient.

"Its Shadow," I said quietly, "he's my friend."

At this, something passed through Michaels eyes (for I was still looking at him. I knew, of everyone here, Michael had the most influence over the Duke). It looked like pain, but I couldn't be sure. Never-the-less, he was swift to change tactics.

"You have so few, that you would claim a dog your only friend?" he asked me quietly. I would have taken offence, had not his eyes been suddenly gentle. There was no hint of malice in his tone.

Shadow bristled at my side.

_I am not dog. _He said indignantly. _Tell human I am not dog._

"He is not a dog," I said obediently, "he is a wolf."

I heard a snort. "Aye and that is much better than a dog." Ronin said, his voice mocking. I ignored him, appealed to Michael, the softness in Michael eyes.

"He is my friend," I repeated. "He will not hurt anyone."

_Really? _

I placed a gentle hand on Shadow's back. "Really. If he wishes to stay, he will not hurt anyone."

Shadow grumbled.

I saw Michael glance up, once at his father. The Duke must have read his younger sons judgment there, for he scoffed suddenly.

"Bah, let the chit have her entertainment. If it's a wolf she wants, than a wolf she shall have. Sit down Anna." He snapped this last at his pale wife, and she, the wolf forgotten in her indignation at being called 'Anna', sat with a furious thud, and eyed her husband angrily.

Michael did not sit immediately, and I watched with surprise as he bent down slowly, holding his hand out to Shadow. Shadow, polite, reached forward and gave it an obliging sniff, but did not allow himself to be patted. He was, as he had told me earlier, no dog.

"What is his name?" Michael asked softly, taking his seat again, now the introductions were over.

Shadow took a place beside my feet, now his place was secure at the mansion.

I reached down to touch the wolf gently.

"Moon Shadow" I replied, just as softly, "But you may call him Shadow. He likes that more."

Shadow gave a rumble of approval.

I returned to my breakfast, and feeling someone's stare, looked up.

Ronin was watching me, speculation in his eyes.

I met his gaze unflinchingly, and with a small smile, he dropped his eyes back to his apple and sliced another piece.

XXXX


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

We were not often apart, I and the wolf. As like of mind as girl and beast may be, perhaps more, for Shadow was no ordinary creature. He had been under care of the Nymphs of the Wood and Air, and when they tired of it, he had been gifted to me. No ordinary creature would be the in the care of the spirits, this I knew, and when he spoke with his mind voice he spoke with a deep intelligence that could only come from long life, or many short ones.

Still, I loved him despite his strangeness, and he responded as only he could, with his velvety voice and changeling eyes. As a pup they had been blue, the icy blue of a winter sky, clear of clouds or mist. As he grew, quickly, and filled out his lean frame to a powerful body, his eyes became the golden hued amber of the sunlight on pool shadows, or the flickering light on a copper bracelet. When he was angry they darkened to near ebony, and his strangely expressive face would still. This was the colour of his eyes whenever he was in the presence of Ronin. To Michel and I he was often playful, but for myself alone did he reserve his happy moods, and at these times his eyes were fierce brightness of a flame, and glowed with a burning intensity I could not credit to any mortal creatures eyes.

But I never asked and he never told of his heritage. Perhaps it was as it seemed in his mind, a place of blankness and darkness, gone from memory. But in his unguarded moments, with the familiarity of an ever-preset companion, when his mind was open to my own, strange images would flit before my eyes. A glimpse of glowing waters, the flash of amber hair, the flare of laughing eyes, the myriad of colours that was a rainbow, and the feeling that went with it. Longing, delight, _freedom_. Something that transcended this physical world we now lived in.

And I would watch his wolfish face closely, until he, realising what I was seeing, snatched his memories back with a growl, and filled his mind once more with darkness.

But still I said nothing, though I wondered often.

XXXX

The years passed quickly, with little but Fallthorn Forest and its continuous wonders to fill our days. I had no concept of the outside world, but my innocence at this time is something that I treasure even now, when I look back upon it. These days have changed in my memory, become sunlit days of never-ending blue sky, of the living woods and the adventures that stretched before us, eternally. But I fear that it is not truthful, what I remember, but made bright by the darkness of later years. Still, one thing has never changed; Shadow is always by my side, his amber eyes glowing, and coat gleaming moon-silver in dusky light.

What would I not give, now, to return to it all, and let nothing ever taint our neglected, strange life?

But despite all this, Shadow and I could not always escape the outside world, and the forest was not always our haven. Important visitors passed through often, drawn by the lands beyond the Border. Ambassadors they were who arrived on gleaming horses and dressed in clothes of fine material and gaudy colouring. At these times the Duchess required my presence.

I learned to dread these days.

"And this is our foster child, Lady Rianna." She would say, holding my arm tightly lest I slip away. She would say this with an air of expectation about her, waiting for the proper acknowledgment, which they never denied.

"The child of our Late King," the ambassadors would say, eyes on me but looking through me, disinterested. "Our dear Golden prince. What a doll she is. And how like _he_ she is." I used to wonder why they would say this, when it was clear they made no note of me. But I was used to it now. I was the daughter of this mysterious man, this _King_ of a realm I had never seen. Only once had any guest made of me anything different. "How like _she_ she is," a fat man in gold brocade said once. "And not a hint of her father!"

But at the times when the ambassadors exclaimed of my likeness to my father, the Duchess would preen with pride, and let my arm loose so I could escape back to she shadows with my wolf.

XXXX

But then, one-day, an ambassador came who brought different news of the Realm.

He was a young man, with glistening black hair and white teeth that flashed bright when he smiled. His eyes were large and a deep, luscious grey and he met me with a affable smile and an extravagant bow.

"Princess Rianna Sa-Elastonmer. I am honoured to meet you," he declared loudly, and made no motion to greet the Duchess, who stood at my side.

I felt something deep inside me then, something that screamed _danger_!

I had never been addressed by my title before, which by all means I had claim to, but none saw fit to use. There was something about the speculation in this mans eyes, when he looked at me, that worried me deeply. By my side, Shadow growled quietly.

_I do not like this man, _he told me. _He slithers like a snake. _

I stared at this ambassador, painfully aware of the sudden silence that pervaded the air about me. It hung like a blanket upon the mansion, like a heavy mist that choked the breather.

The man with the glistening hair smiled at me again, gently, and then looked at the Duchess.

"Lady Anne," he greeted her with an air of deliberation, and I saw a flicker of a smile on his face when she stiffened, "the country air suites you."

It was a veiled insult, though not so heavily veiled that none in the mansion courtyard missed it.

We all of us stared at him in shock.

I was not so innocent now as to misunderstand him. This change in tactic, when before the important Court visitors passing through the Border had swooned over the Duchess, and now saw fit to swoon over me instead, worried us all I think. What had happened at Court, we all wondered, that this ambassador saw fit to acknowledge my title, and insult my foster family?

The answer came quickly enough.

"My lady," the ambassador said, addressing now the Duchess, his sparkling eyes grave. "In my passing through I now bring news of the Court, and it is grievous indeed. For our King," at this his eyes flashed briefly to me, and I saw again the speculation not hidden well enough in them, "has found himself widowed. The Queen passed _Beyond_, taken by grave illness. I bring you this sorrowful news, my lady, so you may grieve as all our realm now grieves. Like our King, we have lost our guiding light."

In short, the Queen was dead.

As one, the small courtyard, filled with servants and nobles both, turned their heads towards me, an air of anticipation about them.

"My lady, I bring other news, but it is news better for private ears." He looked at me, and there was no doubt to anyone that I was part of this 'other news'.

I swallowed nervously.

Shadow pressed closer against my side, and I rested my hand on his back, curling my fingers into his heavy coat.

_I worry, _he told me simply.

I had no words for that simple statement, and stepped back a little, out of the spotlight.

We watched with quiet eyes as the courtyard emptied sombrely, and the manner of all was quiet but steady. The Queen was grieved for, but not mourned. She had no part in life here; she was a figure-head only, but still, she was the Queen.

I did not grieve. I could not think her _my_ Queen, despite her being, by blood, my Aunt.

As the ambassador went up the mansion steps, led by the regal Duchess, he turned once, and looked back.

His eyes, clear of the mock-sadness he had displayed earlier, wiped of the bemusement as he bullied the Duchess and made my status clear, were sad but resigned.

What news did he bring, to bring such sadness to his eyes?

XXXX

We came late to dinner, the wolf and I, for the maid had seen fit to dress me carefully.

"Just look at th' state of these curls!" she had admonished gracelessly. "Ach child, ye grow to wild. Ye too old now to dress an urchin and be flighty in the woods."

To appease her and keep her quiet I allowed her to dress me in an elegant gown, rather than my preferred plain tunics. I was older now, almost 14, and I knew well enough what was suitable and what was not. For this Ambassador I was dressed in flowing grey, with a high neckline and long, tight sleeves. It was a modest gown, and my hair was left undone, but brushed and dampened to hold its shape.

I felt heavy and uncomfortable as I pushed on the door to enter, but hearing voices inside, stopped.

"You know why I have come?" the smooth voice of the ambassador floated through the doorway, and beside me, Shadow stiffened.

"Alexander, do not play games with me. Tell me," the Duchess replied, her voice sharp. Her husband, the Duke, murmured his agreement.

"I bring warnings, as well as tidings," the ambassador, Alexander, continued. "The Queen has died, and for that the court mourns. But she died childless, and that is far more grave a condition for the King than his wife's passing."

There was a brief silence, and then he continued.

"I bring warnings now, for I had some affection for the child's mother. You know of who I speak."

"I know." The rumble of the Dukes voice was impatient.

"I pity the girl, taken from Court as she was. There were people there that loved Daniella well, and would have taken her child."

"Do you criticise us?" The Duchess too, sounded impatient.

"Nay," Alexanders tone was soothing. "I only mean that it was sad she was taken so far from _us_. And now I pity her, for his eye roams now. If he is seen to be heirless, it would not bode well for his throne. He is not a popular King. So now his eye turns towards here, and upon her, until he finds his own heir, and can be rid of her more fully."

This small speech was met by silence, and I feared to breathe, should I break it.

Then, suddenly, Michael spoke. "Why do you tell us this, sir? Why entrust us with this?"

Alexanders reply was instantaneous, "Do you have no affection for her? Do you not care for her as you would your sister? Your daughter?"

The silence answered his words too well, though Michael broke it hastily. "I do. _We_ do. But we give her bed and food; we give her shelter and clothing. We are not her guardians, nor her keepers. We cannot stand between the King and his niece."

_He speaks truth. If the King finds you here, you can do nothing. _Shadow, by my side, was stiff with anger.

_Only if he finds me here, _I replied to him silently.

"Will he come soon?" The Duchess asked.

"I cannot know. It may be months, years even. He may marry again and get the wench with child, or he may wait, and make a political match, and steal the girl until then. I bring warning of what may happen, not what will. I cannot predict this man."

I had heard enough.

Pulling away from the door I turned on my heel and fled from the mansion, fear blinding me too all save Shadow at my side, stretching out like a streak of silver moonlight, his presence heavy on my mind, pressing against me for comfort.

We stopped on the edge of Fallthorn, both of us breathing heavily.

_They cannot take you, _Shadow said, pain searing his velvety voice. _They cannot!_

I looked up the trees, dark and shadowy, ancient statues against the star-filled sky. Already I could feel the presence of the Nymphs all about me, drawing us into the forest.

"They _will_ not." I whispered to the night, and my words bound me. I had promised.

I would not go to Court.

XXXX


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The seasons changed, and with it my world.

I counted the days I went to Fallthorn now. And each day I went was sweeter for it; for each day was one less that I had left, before I must make my escape through it unto the world.

For I knew, that the next time rumours were brought of a finely-clothed courtier headed our way, I must flee, if I was to stay from my Uncles Court.

Why I found this need so urgent I do not even now understand. Perhaps it was fear for the Unknown, for though my life was far from ordinary, it was never-the-less monotonous. I was a creature of habit by nature, and Wolf's also. But this did not explain the sense of ice-cold dread that had settled permanently in my stomach, or the sudden onset of a fast beating heart and sweating palms on the slightest glance towards me. I feared my Uncles Court far more than even I understood. And what was whispered in my mind seemed not my own thoughts, but a prophecy. _It would be my doom. _

No, I would not go. And no force on this earth would stop me from escaping, when the time came.

Shadow too, my faithful companion, suffered the same unquiet as I. He slept fitfully in my arms, his large body shuddering in his sleep, wrenched from peacefulness by disquieting dreams. At times he would wake, and lie next to me and breathe in my scent, and this would calm him I think. He feared losing me, as I had seen no creature suffer before. The same thing he would repeat over and over in his mind.

_They will not take you from me, _he told me again and again. And once he had added something more to these quivering words. _They will not take you from me. Not again. _

I did question him, nor force him to quiet so I could sleep. We lay the night in one another's arms and did not attempt to dream. My dreams were pervaded by harsh hands, grasping me and hauling me onward. His own were intruded of visions of me dragged away, and him lying helpless, immobile.

Of all the family, only Michael sensed the change in myself and Shadow. We had never been social creatures. Avoiding the mansion during the day, our haven always the old forest. But now he saw us leave it with a desperation that had not been there before, and presently, he asked me of it.

"What do you run from?" he asked me gently, "When you leave the mansion?"

I could only look at him, sitting before me in fine grey clothing, the dandy's sword dangling at his side. His hair was combed back from his face and held there with a jewelled clip. His face, deer and sweet to me always, was creased with confusion.

Michael was a noble I thought, in body and soul. How could he understand?

"I do not run," I told him. I placed my hand gently on Shadows back, where he rested beside me, stretched out before the fire in my chambers.

Michael was crouched before us, and the firelight illuminated his features, made them harsh. I saw the hurt cross them when I did not confide in him, and then it was gone, and his iron gaze turned to Shadow instead. He allowed himself to smile softly.

"He has almost reached full growth, it seems. He aged slowly, for a wolf."

I looked at him but said nothing.

"It is as if his body has slowed down, almost to human time. I have never seen a wolf grow so slowly, nor grow so large."

Michael's eyes met mine. "This is no ordinary wolf is it?"

I looked down at Shadow, pretending to sleep. His tail wagged, once, twice. His coat was soft, delicate, silver on top and black beneath, and warm from the fire. No, this is no ordinary wolf, I wanted to say. I wanted to tell Michael that he came from the nymphs, and that he was a wolf only as much as I was a princess. In name only.

But how could I tell him this? Michael was kind, yes, and truly a brother. I trusted him. But would he trust me enough to believe him? Or, I wondered, would he trust me enough to leave him now with no explanation?

"Have you found no other, no pack, when you go searching in Fallthorn? Has he no family that you know of?"

Shadow woke now, though he kept his eyes closed. I sensed a change in him, a raging fury that made my hand still on his back.

_Tell him I need no family, _he snarled in my mind. _Tell him you are my pack. I need no other. _

I looked at Michael, and he must have seen my face pale a little.

"I am his family." I told him obediently, "I am all he has."

And the nymphs of the wood and air gave him to me. I am his carer, but not his owner.

_You are my pack, S_hadow said again in my mind, and this statement was voiced with aching simplicity.

_I am your pack_, I agreed.

Michael frowned, and looked between us, as if he sensed something was happening that was beyond his understanding. But he could not grasp what it was, and finally he sighed.

"I worry about you Ria. It is not good to have no friends of your own kind."

"_You_ are my friend."

Another sigh. "Yes. I am your friend. But what of other young girls? You should be girls your own age, swapping stories and giggling about village boys."

He made me laugh, and I clapped my hand to my mouth to stifle it. Michael grinned a little at this.

"No, they're not the most attractive lot are they?" he said, but his eyes took on a faraway look, as if he were searching for answers.

"I wish this for you," he told me quietly, "that you had been an ordinary child, and we had raised you as our own. That you were not tainted by this Royal Blood." He spat the word. "But you are not are you? And nothing I wish can change that. No matter how hard I wish it."

He stood gracefully, and his face was sad when he looked down at me, dressed in plain tunic, hair tangled, my hand resting protectively on the back of a silver wolf.

"Goodnight Ria, Shadow."

He nodded at us and left my chambers, the door closing quietly behind him.

XXXX

So yes, the seasons changed again and again and again. A year passed in quiet worry and near-sleepless nights. Now, when we visited the Nymphs, they drew us to a tall willow tress, and made for us beds of silky leaves to sleep on. Only in the forest did we rest peacefully.

Finally, the day came.

"Ria!" the Duchess called, a moment before she hurried through the door to my chambers. "Ria hurry and change! We have visitors!" Her eyes glowed with delight and pride as she quickly moved the dresser and chose a neat, green dress for me. "Hurry now, dress in this, and meet me downstairs in as few moments as you can manage!"

She turned to go, but I stalled her quickly, a hand on her arm.

"Aunt, I want to say something."

"Yes, what is it dear?"

"I want to thank you for all you have done for me."

She did not hear what I was truly saying. That this was my farewell.

I _would not_ go to Court.

She awarded me a smile, the first genuine smile I had ever been given from her. But still, she fluttered my goodbye away with a wave of her hand. "No matter child, now hurry! The guests will be here soon!"

And with those last words, she left.

XXXX

After a year of worry, I had no time for it now. I was painfully calm as I moved about my room and pushed into a small sack all those small luxuries I might need. A hair-brush, a flask for water, a carefully wrapped bundle of stale bread pilfered from the kitchens, a warm cloak, a change of clothing, my green dress, and lastly, a small, neat knife.

Shadow watched me silently as I did this, and in him too, was this innate calm.

_They are almost here, _he told me, but his voice was steady and I only nodded.

We went down the back way to the stables, through the servant's quarters. We passed few of them, but those we did pass I motioned them to silence, and they, always more loyal to Michael and myself, nodded and turned their eyes away.

Shadow padded silently by my side, a silver streak with golden eyes. In the dim light of the servant's hall, they glowed.

The stables were empty when we arrived, and after a moment of hesitation, I quickly made my way to the small trap-door that I knew was hidden beneath a barrel of hay. The trap-door led, through a small tunnel, to a place outside the mansion walls, where from we could enter Fallthorn forest unseen.

From there, I knew not where we would go.

I opened the trap-door for Shadow, and it was just large enough to fit him.

_Quickly, _I whispered to him, _I can hear their hoof-beats._

Shadow said nothing; though no doubt he had heard the horses long before I had. He entered the small tunnel with no argument, though I felt his tension, and the fear that now, he could lose me….

_Ria! _His panicked cry filled my head, just as I felt the hand clamp down on my wrist.

"Well well well," said a familiar smooth voice. "What have we here?"

I turned slowly, and looked into the handsome face of Alexander.

"A little bird trying to escape, is it not?"

I glared at him in silence.

_Ria! Flee! Stay away from him! He smells of deceit. _

The amusement in his eyes faded. I wondered if it was possible for another to hear Shadow's mind-speak.

"There is no point in this child, you _must_ come with me. Your Uncle commands it."

Where had his earlier attitude he spoke of gone? I wondered. He was the one who had brought the warning to my foster-family, and thus to me, of my Uncles intentions.

"Please," I whispered, "let me go."

His grey eyes darkened, and his handsome face was sinister suddenly.

"That, my dear," he told me coldly, "is something I cannot do."

And then suddenly Shadow was there, leaping from the trap-door in a fury, a silver arrow of power and beauty, and I caught a glimpse of raging gold eyes and gleaming fangs, and then he had fastened himself to Alexanders arm, and the growl that was wrenched from his throat was terrifying. I froze.

_Flee Ria! _His voice in my mind was panicked, but I sensed viciousness there to, and felt as if it were my own teeth, his fangs tighten onto Alexanders arm and draw blood. Alexanders hand loosened on my wrist and then, with a painful cry he let me go, and fell backward, Shadow on top of him, snarling ferociously.

_Go Ria!_ _Run! _

I did not question, nor hesitate again. With no thought of my own but what Shadow had screamed to me, I crouched down and dived into the tunnel, felt the walls of it scrape my hands and arms bloody, the impact of the ground on my body when I landed like cement. Sobbing, I crawled forward on bloody limbs, but I could see the light already, and it calmed me, and the pain left a little, and I was drawn into a hazy dream, where I floated a little above my body, and watched myself as I crawled through that dark tunnel, and emerged finally into the sunlight.

XXXX

I waited there, for what seemed like hours but must only have been minutes, for Shadow to emerge.

He did, eventually, clawing from the tunnel and into the sunlight with glassy-eyed movements that bespoke of exhaustion. His mouth, where he had bitten Alexander, was still bloody, and his coat was marred by dirt and twigs.

I greeted him with a pained cry, and fell to my knees, so I could put my arms about his neck and hold him tightly.

He licked my face gently, and then sagged a little in my arms.

_So tired, _his mind-voice whispered weakly in my mind. _Go to Fallthorn. Now. _

Obediently, for I had grown used to obeying Shadows commands now, I rose to my feet. He stood a little straighter at my side, his height almost reaching my waist, and stood closely so I could rest my hand lightly on his back.

Together, we walked silently into the welcoming density of Fallthorn.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The nymphs met us just within the shadow of the trees. They stood about us and cursed the cruelty of men, and watched us with sad faces, and finally led us to a stream to bathe. With tender hands their healed our wounds, and wiped the blood tenderly from the chin of my Shadow.

"My darling wolf," they chanted to him tenderly, "darling darling darling wolf."

I agreed with this whole-heartedly.

The nymphs did not question what happened, and Shadow and I offered no explanations. They had naught to do with the mortal realm, what place had they in their tender hearts for knowledge of Kings and Queens and Princess's? No, all would be better without that knowledge, I would not burden them.

They gave us the Willow to sleep in, and we accepted our leafy beds gratefully.

Together, free of dreams, we slept.

XXXX

The days passed quickly in Fallthorn, and melded into each other. The light of the moon and sun, one golden and one silver, marked the passing of time only vaguely, so deep were we under the canopy of dense trees. What was the difference of shadows to us? We slept in the day and woke at night, or went for half and half. In our peacefulness we forgot the terrors of the mortal world, we forgot the glittering, deadly promise of my Uncles Court, and we forgot the passage of days and what they could mean.

Eventually, a water nymph approached us.

She was beautiful, as all the forest spirits were, with their small, heart-shaped faces and slight, airy bodies. This nymph was leafy-haired and pale skinned, tinged in the colour of deep pool water. Her eyes, when she turned them to me, were the colour of soft violet lilies.

"Come with me," she told me gently in her whimsical voice, and turned away, leading me into the forest.

I followed unquestionably.

She led me from her sisters, and about us the forest grew lighter, not darker. Shadow had watched me go anxiously, but made no move to follow. Here in Fallthorn we were safe, yet still he feared to lose me.

She led me through the trees until we came upon an open glade of long grass and spilling sunlight. The golden light seemed to pour from over the shelter of tress above us, and in the centre of its glittering warmth, a pool.

"Look into it," she bade me, and again, I did not question her.

I looked.

And stumbled back from what I saw.

Michael was in the forest.

I could not tell where he was, for to me, no part of the forest was ever the same. He was in a field of oak-trees, and sunlight drifted all around him, and beside him I saw the gentle flicker of the spirits and how they herded him onwards.

His face was cut and bruised, as were his hands, and I wondered when he had fallen, and why the nymphs had allowed him to fall.

"What is this?" I asked of the nymph, who was waiting silently at my side.

She looked at me with shadowed eyes. "He came uninvited into our territory," she told me simply, "he was punished."

I stared at her in shock. Never had I thought the nymphs capable of violence. To me they had been my light, my guiding laughter, my safety.

"So you pushed him off a cliff?" I asked her incredulously.

Her mouth twitched a little, "Not so mortal-child, you know this. We are not cruel. He fell down of his own accord, and we made no move to help them. That is all."

"Why do you show me this?"

Her eyes became grave, and her small face saddened. "He calls for you. Can you hear him? Listen."

I looked back at the image in the pool, and leaned my face close to it. Indeed, I could hear him.

_Ria! Ria! _He called, over and over, and his voice was so infused with pain I closed my eyes and bowed my head.

"I will go to him." I whispered, and beside me, the nymph gravely nodded.

"I will take you there."

XXXX

We flew through the trees, I gathered in her arms, and I felt the lightness of her small body against my own. Her arms that held me had no solidity. It was as if I were travelling on wind. The feeling would have unnerved me, if I had not been carried before.

She set me down amongst the ancient trunks, and in the distance, with my human ears, I heard him.

"Ria!" he called, and his voice cracked in a sob. "_Ria_!"

I could hold back not at all, for this was Michael, _Michael_, my brother in soul if not in blood. And he was here and he was in pain and nothing could stop me reaching out to him now.

"Michael!" I called in reply, and I ran forward from the trees. "Michael!"

He turned to me then, this black clad figure amongst the green leaves and vines that hung all about us, and his face suffused with such joy as I had never seen, and it was only now, when I had lost him, that I understood how much I missed him, his dear sweet face and quiet understanding, his beautiful blue eyes.

I had thought there was nothing of the mortal world that I loved.

I was mistaken.

His arms opened wide for me when I reached him and with a cry I fell into them, burying my head against his chest, and felt his arms close about me again, safe and warm and human.

After a time I became aware of his tears on my hair, of his arms, shaking as they held me. It had been different for him, I knew, for he had no thought that I might be alive. How could he think that? Days and days lone in a forest with a wolf for company? I had left, though, knowing he lived. His pain was far greater.

"Ria Ria how could you do this to me? To us? Ah when Alexander returned, when he said he had found you lying bruised on the floor, and his own arm bleeding, and that when he had tried to help you the Wolf, in blood-lust had attacked him and then dragged you away…ah how it hurt. By the Light how it hurt. And I thinking you dead and Alexander saying it was not an unusual thing, for a beast to turn on its owner. And you dragged away! And we found blood Ria! _Blood_! Ah by the Light, but look at you!" He pushed me back to arms length, checked over my face and body quickly, then pulled me back against his chest, "Not a bruise of bloody sore on you at all! How is this? This miracle? Is this a ghost! _Are you my Ria at all_?"

As if this thought just occurred to him he stumbled away from me, and when I reached out to him he flinched back. He had believed Alexanders lies I thought angrily. He had believed that Shadow, my companion, had attacked me! How could he trust us so little?

"Michael! It is I! I am Ria, no ghost. I stand before you flesh and blood. Unhurt. Alexander lies, he tried to hurt me, and Shadow fell upon him, and I escaped and then Shadow escaped also. We are safe here, Michael. Shadow _saved_ me."

As these words penetrated his thoughts, he grasped me back to him. He no longer cried, but his arms and hands were shaking as he rubbed my back fiercely, as if afraid that if he didn't touch me, I would disappear again.

"Come home Ria. Come home. Shadow may come to. Please Ria. Come home. You have been too long gone."

What was this? I had been gone only days. I told him this, and he looked at me in disbelief.

"Days Ria? _Days_? Nay, months more-like. And I have been here everyday and only now you see fit to show yourself to me! Whats is this lie Ria? _Days_?"

I stared at him in shock. Months? How had we stayed here so long and not noticed? And now….and now surely Alexander would be gone…But…I could not go back. Alexander would not forgive so easily surely. And he had seemed too eager to take me…

"Come back home Ria," Michael implored me desperately, "Please come back. You will not go to Court. We will see to that. No-one will try to take you. You need not go if you do not wish."

I shook my head and stepped back from him. "They have already tried to take me," I told him, "Why do you think I ran away?"

"Who did?" He was angry suddenly, "Who tried to take you against your will?" Then understanding dawned. "Alexander."

I nodded.

"But no matter Ria! Alexander is long gone. He will forget, surely."

"Forget that a wolf attacked him, and that the heir to the throne ran away?"

He frowned a little, "So, we will not tell him. There is no way he can know. You need not go to Court Ria. You can come, we will protect you."

Yes. Surely Michael would protect me. But Ronin? The Duke? The Duchess? They would loft no finger to help me. Likely Ronin would see me as his link to Curt, since his last had failed to miserably. I could not go back there and risk again a capture. Or Shadows life.

"I cannot go Michael. I _will not_ go." There, the promise again. I had promised myself long ago I would never go to Court. Both my parents had died there, why would I join them? And again that strange prophecy in my mind. _It will be my doom. _

He staggered back from me, and I flinched at the naked pain in his face.

"That is your final answer?" he whispered. "Can I do nothing to change your mind?"

I shook my head. Slowly. No. There was nothing.

His eyes filled with tears but he held them back.

"Very well…for months…for months I have searched for…" he broke off, and something hardened in his face. "You know where to find me." He told me quietly, and after one last, lingering look, he turned away from me.

I did not think then, that it would be many many many years before I saw him again.

If I had known then, that my leaving would be so final, I could not have let him go.

XXXX

The nymph waited for amongst the trees, and her lily eyes were pale with grief.

"You had so few words for him?" she asked me.

I looked at her in confusion. What else had there been to say. Good enough that Michael had understood. Good enough he had let me go.

"He loved you, child. Can you not see it?"

Ah. I smiled miserably, "yes. I can see it. I love him also. He is my brother."

The nymph looked at me expressionlessly, "You have no idea do you, of the effect you have on people. You think yourself free of mortal attachments? Because you run with nymphs in the forest? You are not. And those around you love you and in ways you cannot understand." She paused for a moment, and, reaching up, touched my hair gently. "You cannot see how people love you. Your innocence is a curse to them. Can you not see it, even now? You love him, yes, in your curious way. But to him, you were his everything."

She sighed and gathered me in her arms, her strange insubstantial body holding me close.

"His pain at this parting is far greater than you can imagine."

And with that, she grasped me tight, and spun us into the air.

XXXX


	5. Chapter 5

Yes, I know that it starts the same

**Yes, I know that it starts the same. But it couldn't not really. But after that bit its different. I think. And just a bit of background info so it makes sense. In this story the Nymphs belong to a race called Fey. They are basically 'magical' creatures, though there isn't spell casting etc in these stories. They are of the elements so they have strengths that work with those elements. Like how the nymphs keep dissolving into the water and air when they get excited. The Nymphs are almost purely elemental, while other fey creatures may be 'minor' (though not any less powerful, they just have less water etc in them). Among the Fey (you might meet most) there are also Sprites, Water Houses or Dgmeare, Dragons (not the scaly, fire-breathing kind), Phaerie (you'll def meet them) and the Divine (not as we see Gods, though that's what they're called in this story). The Mother Race of the Fey is the Elvan, but they have little to with the story. But most Fey have human-ish appearance because here, human appearance is actually Elvan appearance, and that's where it all derives from. **

**So there you go, a little hierarchy for you. If you have any questions let me know I'd love to answer them. **

**Chapter 5**

Shadow had nothing to say to me upon my return, though he must have seen the brimming of realisation in my eyes, the pain. He merely looked at me, and in his eyes were a soothing understanding that stopped my silent tears.

He sat amongst the nymphs, where they gathered by the river-side, the drifting sunlight turning his silver coat to startling white, his golden eyes clear and unwavering. He sat so still, as if he were a statue, where all about him the nymphs writhed and laughed as their limbs and voices melted into the air about them. He sat so still, so apart from them, and yet in that moment, he truly belonged.

I forgot all, I forgot the mansion, and Michael, and the passive admonishment in the eyes of the violet eyed nymph.

And in the moment, I could not stop my thoughts from forming the question I had always denied myself, so alien, so beautiful was he.

_What are you?_

His golden gaze never fell from my own, but the understanding in it died, and his eyes became little more than glazed surfaces, reflective, and with no way in.

_If Fate will bless you, _he replied in his velvet voice, the one only I could hear, _you will never know. _

I did not ask again.

Pulling from the airy embrace of the nymph who had carried me from the river-side, I went to my bed of leaves and lay upon it, falling almost immediately into a deep and dreamless sleep.

XXXX

Days passed and I made no effort to guess how many. What use, when I tried to guess before and failed so miserably? For all I knew, it may have been years since I had left the mansion. Fallthorn Forest was ancient, and I suspected that human counting of days and hours had no use here. A sun rise and sun-set did not mark the passage of one day, but several. It was as if one moment of time was stretched infinitely either side, and here in this forest we hovered between the seconds, never knowing how many we had lost.

The time lapse did not phase Shadow, and I gradually accepted it.

What place had I on the outside world anyway? What was left for me there but the dark promise of capture and Court? Michael was gone, returned to his mansion icy-hearted, and blocked off from my world. Without human contact, what use was human time?

So days passed, and passed and passed.

Each morning was different, each night brighter than the one before.

The Nymphs were not the only fey beings who lived in this forest, though they told me finally upon incessant questioning that the other fey, save the Sprites, rarely sought their company. Other immortals, they said, were generally a sombre lot, depressed with the thought of forever and scorning the human race whose greatest gift was death. They had little time for the Nymphs of Fallthorn, whose light-hearts and cheer must be a terrible ache on their kindred's ears.

But then, the nymphs were more air and water than being, and who knew more of forever than water? And water in itself was ever-changing; no path would be the same. Perhaps it would not be so bad for them, when every sun-rise held something new, something unseen. An eternity of delights, I thought.

But still, I could not wholly imagine _forever_, but see it only at a distance, an all-compassing darkness that was more alien to me than the mortal world. Imagine! Living to see the birth of the stars and their death, to see the world change about you, always moving, dying, only to re-born again and again. How terrible it could be, I thought, to see all the world change while you must stay the same.

And when this sombre thought crossed my mind, I asked no more questions.

Looking back on these days, perhaps I tasted forever in those moments, for I can certainly taste it now, and know the feeling of eternity pressing down all around, threatening to throw its gloomy arms about you, and capture you forever in a lightless grave.

When you are in that moment, who can possibly be your saviour?

XXXX

The sun rose on the morning (and who can know which morning it was, the 10th, the 50th, the 500th?) brighter than it ever had. The golden light battled down through the canopy of trees, falling on the ever present drew-drops that lingered on the leaves, the last remainder of a damp night, and was flung off again in all directions. The lake in the midst of our small glade of safety, beside which our sleeping willow stood, was caught in the golden falls and was set alight in blue-gold shimmer. From pools of water all around the nymphs themselves rose from the water and air, dressed in sunlight, their hair cascading down their nimbus arms and back, until they rose to far into the warmth and dissolved into it silently, only to reappear again in glistening lake, dressed in luminous water.

And from the shadows that still spread around the glade, the dense wetness still unpenetrated by the golden sunlight above us, a young man walked.

He was not an ordinary young man, as Michael had been, that I could see in an instant. But if I was asked I would not be able to say exactly what it was about him that was unusual, for there was nothing overly wonderful about his appearance, infact, from what I had seen at the mansion, he was quite…well, ordinary.

Still, I was suspicious. If he were an ordinary young man he would not be here, so deep in the forest, and the nymphs would not jump from the lake and fall from the sunlight, abandoning their new game, if he were as ordinary as I.

I watched him silently, still sitting on my bed of leaves in the Willow tree, where I had been watching the nymphs with delighted eyes. Shadow rested beside me, though I sensed the moment he became alert to the stranger, and it was moments before he appeared. Through the Willow, whose leaves had been parted and pushed back like a curtain, I watched him uneasily.

He was a youthful man, though perhaps if he were at the mansion he would be still a boy. His hair was the colour of gentle chestnut, hardly eye-catching, his skin was tanned lightly, evenly, and his dark eyes were thickly lashed but not overly so. His quick smile, when he greeted the nymphs, was warm and comforting, not the flashing brilliance that Alexanders had been.

He was standing casually, dressed in a loose brown tunic with his hands tucked deep into his pockets, and spoke to the nymphs with a fast tongue in a language I did not know, but which he made no pains to keep from me.

Still, it was all a little too smooth for tastes. After Alexander, I didn't think I'd ever trust _smooth_ again.

"What is he?" I asked Shadow quietly. At my side, Shadow had grown unbearably tense, a stiff rod at my side.

_A spite, _Shadow answered me after a moment, and I wondered at the marked distaste in his voice. _They are messengers. _

"Of whom?" I wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer, and only a little disappointed when Shadow did not provide one.

_Come. It is best he does not search for us. _

Shadow leapt down lightly from the Willow tree, and stood impatiently waiting for me to join him.

I felt a deep sense of dread in my stomach. Last time a messenger had come for me, we had almost ended up dead. Or worse. Why had this..this…_sprite_ come here _now_? And why, by the light, for _me_?

XXXX

I kept behind Shadow as we approached, nervous and not wanting it to show, and hating that at the mansion, I had never been schooled to hide emotion. This new stranger made me wary, for I knew naught what he was save his type, only that he was not as he seemed. At the mansion, I trusted few, among the Fey, I trusted even less.

_Relax, _Shadows voice was irritable in my mind, _you're making me jumpy. _

I stiffened irritably, but did not deign to reply.

We joined the scattering of nymphs that still crowded about him, and I saw now how tall he was. Long and lanky, with a lithe body that did not have the broad shoulders or muscles of a man, but never-the-less suggested its own coiled strengths. Up close, I noticed the perfection. While his features were not striking, his skin was too even, unweathered, unblemished. His hair was one solid colour, and did not appear to have individual strands, but to sit in clumps to his shoulders.

A messy job of feigning human, a small voice in my mind whispered.

His head turned slowly towards us, and I noted the grace of the movement, and how his eyes turned with his head, perfectly timed. His nose tilted slightly towards us, as if he were…smelling us?

_He does not see as we do. He relies on his senses, _Shadow explained to me, keeping his mind-voice muted.

I met the stranger's eyes hesitantly, and was shocked by the blankness there.

_Does he see at all? _I asked my companion, shocked.

Shadow did not answer.

"Greeting, mortal-child," the stranger, the _sprite_, said, and his voice was melodious and whispery. His head dropped a little, and he gazed blankly at Shadow. Then a slow, knowing smile formed on his thin lips. "Greetings, Master Wolf."

Shadow merely looked at him.

_Ask him what he wants, _Shadow urged, and I caught the renewed distaste in his voice.

_Do you know him? _I demanded, but Shadow, again, ignored my question.

_Ask, _he urged again.

"Why do you come here?" I said to the sprite. The nymphs had not lingered about us long, and Shadow and I soon found ourselves alone with him.

The sprite raised a thick eyebrow. "You think I come for you?"

"If you had not, the nymphs would not have left you."

It was unnerving, watching his face. It was blank save the emotion that caught on his words, animated only briefly, and then a mask again. He smiled at me now, brightly, and it melted the same as all the others, into the nothingness of his features.

"Very well, Rianna Sa-Elastonmer, I will tell you." He paused. "I bring you a message from my Masters. They wish you to leave the forest."

It hit me as a tree would crash upon a helpless victim. Leave the forest? Impossible! Where else had I to go? I would not go the mansion; I would not go to Court. What was left for me outside the forest? Naught by strangeness. I could not leave! I could not!

"T-they said that?" Oh, curse the weakness in my voice! But the sprites masters wished me gone, when I had naught to go to!

I caught the glimpse of humour on his face, before it too, died. "Well, not in those words exactly, no. They like flowery phrases, nice and cryptic like, but that was the general gist."

Shock turned to anger, slowly, but fast enough still for it make my next words furious. "Who are they, that they have the right to tell me to go?" This, more than the mansion, was my home! I felt the anger wash through me, full-bodied, for the first time in my life. When had I ever cared enough to bother with anger? Now I did.

He was silent for a moment, and his strange, blank eyes stared directly into mine. I had the thought that perhaps they did not see as I saw, but did they see more instead? Did he know my soul, my emotion; did he see it inside me, a faint outline by my body? Could he, with his blank eyes, see into my very heart?

His answer, when he finally spoke, chilled me.

"They are the Phaerie, child. The Masters of the Fey. Nothing with sense would deny them."

XXXX


	6. Chapter 6

Previous:

Previous:

_His answer, when he finally spoke, chilled me. _

"_They are the Phaerie, child. The Masters of the Fey. Nothing with sense would deny them."_

**Chapter 6**

I was frozen in shock.

At my side, Shadow stiffened instantly, and for the first time I could remember, his mind immediately closed off from my own. The swamping sense of loneliness that engulfed me at that moment was near unbearable, and I struggled to keep face before the blank-faced sprite.

The Phaerie, I thought, again and again.

The Phaerie. Masters of the Fey. I had never seen nor met one, but what I had heard sent chills through me. Strange murders in the forest, men who never returned, children sucked dry of their blood, left hanging in trees. Fiery, beautiful demons that walked the forests in eerie silence, served by the lesser fey with mindless obedience. True Lords of the Forest.

And they wanted me to leave.

I stared, motionless in sudden fear, at the careless messenger.

"When?" I whispered.

The sprite ducked his head, lowered his eyes, and did not answer for a time.

"They gave no time. Save to hasten."

Hasten. Flee. Run from the only home I had ever known. Been accepted in. been loved. I looked over the shimmering, where the nymphs played on in the sunlight, unaware, uncaring. Beloved of the nymphs, I thought, but not the fey. Not the Phaerie.

Yet why did they abhor me so much? Why must I flee when I had done naught to hurt? When the trees themselves accepted into their graceful limbs, and let me sleep upon their silent brow. Why now, of all the days that had passed?

As if he sensed the turmoil of my thoughts, knew my questions, the Sprite reached out his hand and touched me gently on the shoulder. It was not a human touch, nor really one of comfort. It was ice-cold, as if I had plunged my body into a frozen lake, but it was not unbearable, and the coolness eased my nerves. A little.

"The men come." The sprite answered, unprompted. "The men come and destroy the trees. Burn them in their rage. They are not heartless, Rianna nymph-favoured. You flee to safety when you flee this forest."

And when I leave, the men will leave also, drawn on like blood-hounds.

Who sought me now? After all this time? Michel? No, surely not. He had let me go; surely he would not seek to capture me again. Not now.

Perhaps, Alexander?

I thought of his smooth smile, his bright eyes, and felt, for the second time in my life, the furious rage swell and come to life in my blood. My hands itched for something I did not understand, save that it would hurt him. He had caused this! He had caused my home to burn! He had caused me to flee!

He had turned the Phaerie against me.

_Curse him_, I thought viciously, curse him until the end of his days.

Ah, but where was Shadow when I needed him? Why did he stand to still beside me, a statue, unfeeling? Why did he not seek to comfort me, to quiet me, as he had so often done in the past? Why, now, had he turned away?

I forced myself to clear my head, and think rationally.

The men had found me, and were destroying the trees.

The Phaerie wished me gone.

Shadow had distanced himself, and that frightened me more than anything else.

And the sprite…the sprite…I looked at him.

"Is your task finished now?" I asked him quietly, staring into his face and trying to see _something_ of emotion, something real.

"I will escort you to the edge of the forest," he told me, his whispery voice strangely gentle, almost imploring. It was unusual, that he voiced human emotions when he could show nothing of it on his face. Just a brief flash, a reflection, of what might have been. Or what was beneath his oh-so-careful mask.

"And then?"

"And then, Rianna Sa-Elastonmer, you will make your own way." Again that brief flash of smile. "I am sure with your cunning companion, there will be little you cannot do, if you so wish it."

I wanted to say, well then, I wish to stay here.

But I did not.

I would not stay where I was not welcome, and that welcome was the only thing that made this forest my home.

"I will say my goodbyes," I said quietly, and tried to keep the heart-break from my voice.

Say goodbyes until when?

When would I ever return here? I did not, could not have, known what waited me beyond the forest. What future was there for a run-away princess and a wolf?

The Sprite was already stepped back, sinking into the damp trees once more, and briefly, I caught a flash of what he truly was. Sharp, hawkish features, the translucent skin of all the Fey, untouched by true sun, sharp, wide-spaced eyes. Too wide-spaced for human.

"I will be back at night fall." He told me, and then he left.

XXXX

The nymphs gathered about Shadow and I, and wept rivulets of tears that absorbed into their cheeks as they fell. I had never seen them cry before, but their small, wet faces were creased in a grief I thought I would only ever seen on Michael's face, that time he left.

They pressed close to me, their flighty bodies clinging to my trousers, now ragged from too long in the forest, and their breath fanned out like mist around my legs, and even their hands and arms, pressed tightly against my skin, dripped water and mist, for in their grief they lost control of their bodies, and slipped to and from their elements carelessly, and soaked my body with their sorrow.

I too, cried openly, but I cried for many things.

I cried for the nymphs, my sisters, my mothers, my dearest friends. I wept for leaving them, and I wept for leaving the forest, and I wept because I did not know for certain if I would see them again. I wept because they grieved, and no-one, save Michael, had ever grieved over me before.

I cried for Shadow, because he stood so still at my side, so cold, with his mind kept separate from mind that left a chasm of understanding between us that was too strange, to terrifying. Even his fur, when I had brushed my hand across his back, and been stiff and cold, and his eyes, usually so warm with light when he saw me, were blank, unseeing, and watched something far beyond me. What had done this to him? The Phaerie? I had suspected once he was a Phaerie creature, some servant of theirs perhaps. Had fear locked him from me? Or a promise of reunion with his old masters?

And of all of it, I cried for myself. Because I was not 15, and I had nowhere I belonged, and so very little that loved me.

The simple reason of belonging, I thought, could break any child. I was not so special that I was immune from the human sentiments I had once thought myself apart from. Not so special I could withstand this trial without hope, without need, without Shadow.

_Come back to me_, I cried out to him, but he did not respond, with eyes or voice.

I stood among the nymphs and their airy bodies, and let them grieve for me.

XXXX


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Okay I know this may be boring to some of you, but it's to help set the scene. And understand Fallthorn really, and what Ria's place really is. She is special, and the history of Fallthorn is important to establish that connection.**

**Let me know what you think! **

**Chapter 7**

When it came to leave, we left quietly. The nymphs had retreated to their lake and air, but I felt their touch all around me, on my hands, my cheeks, my bare arms. Cool wind licked my face, and small dew drops fell from tress to land across my skin and slide across me like a sweet, flickering tongue.

The sun had sent only moments ago, leaving a hazy glow on the surface of the lake, as it were loathe to let the sunlight loose. But the moon was already rising above the trees, and its silver glow drifted downwards towards us. Less harsh, less bright, and filling our world with a misty glow.

The sprite waited on the edge of the glade while I pressed my cheek against the bark of the willow tree. Did I imagine the sudden warmth in its trunk? The softness that seemed to melt against me? All around me the wind sifted through the leaves and branches that rose above us, and in their movements they spoke in hissing voices. _Farewell, _the wind whispered again and again, and stroked its long fingers through my hair and across Shadows silvery coat.

I made my way towards the sprite slowly, and I felt my heart flutter with fear and sadness. My tears were all gone, turned to bloody rivers in my body, but I grieved no less. Now, at this moment of final parting, the pain was deep indeed.

Shadow paced beside me, a silent wraith dressed in moonlight, as he had done so often before. His steps matched mine effortlessly, and his pace was slow and graceful, in time with my own. But he was still distant, and my mind shuddered with cold fear that he would not return. Shadow was a part of me; I feared the world without him.

The sprite greeted us with a sad smile, and in the drifting, new moonlight I saw that he had dropped his human mirage once more. His strange eyes watched me carefully, glowing gently, and it seemed that about him some ancient power pulsated, heavy on my skin.

"I cannot carry you as your nymphs are able," he told me quietly. "We must take human time through the forest. It will be a few days journey."

A few days more of my beloved forest? I almost smiled. But it was few days more of farewell, when I had thought to finish them tonight. It would take longer now, to wrench myself away from it and the memories of the glade and the lake and the comforting warmth of the willow tree.

I did not say this to him, though, and merely nodded my head. Shadow at my side was silent, a drifting phantom.

"Take my hand," the sprite commanded me then, and held out his hand.

I hesitated a moment, looking into his blank stare, but he only watched me silently, trusting that I would not refuse. I took his hand.

"This is a gift from the Phaerie," he explained, as a strange surge of _something_ arched from his hand to mine. I snatched my fingers away and stared at them. They tingled a little, but not from pain, and the aftermath of the magic was sticky and warm. Yet I could tell no difference. "It is the gift of silence," his whispery voice explained, "to make you as quiet as myself when we walk the ancient paths."

I looked up at him in confusion, and he smiled again, fleetingly.

"Do you really think that because you've lived among the nymphs that you understand the true nature of this forest?" His voice had slipped away from the flowery, formal words, become lighter, more alive.

Did I think that? No. But what did I know of Fallthorn to understand what I did _not_? How could I comprehend that which I had so little knowledge of? In this nymph glade I had lived the glimpse of paradise, how could I truly understand that not all of this ancient forest was not as warm and comforting as the willow tree and the lake had been?

"Come," said the sprite, holding out his hand to me again. Briefly, I say his eyes flicker towards Shadow, but he did not greet him this time, and only nodded briefly. If I had blinked, I would have missed it. "Follow me and I will tell you something of this forest." His inhuman eyes flashed down at me, more alive than they had ever been. I saw one of them close swiftly, and open again. The sprite had winked at me.

"And you may call me Jack," he added with another passing smile. "I like that name."

XXXX

_Jack, _I soon learned, was talkative, and some of his words were able to fill the space left by Shadow in my thoughts. His breathy voice was not the velvety darkness of my wolf's, and nor did we share images as we spoke. Jacks voice beat upon my ears, but lightly, un-intrusive, and I found myself enjoying the conversation. Few at the mansion had spoken to me for any length of time, only Michael had sought me out willingly. And the nymphs had no love for human language, and used it less and less throughout my stay. Shadow also needed no words to convey his thoughts, he was short-spoken by nature.

Even as Jack spoke, I felt my mind drifting. I listened carefully, for sure I did. How could I not, when he answered questions both Shadow and the nymphs had denied me? But I followed his ideas, not his words, and what I should have listened to closely formed instead images in my mind, and drew me into them.

He spoke most of Fallthorn itself.

The forest, I was told, had stood here beyond all memory. Even the gods did not remember its making, Jack told me, lowering his voice and speaking with the hushed, anticipatory tones of a true story-teller. Many legends spoke of its beginning. A vision from the Dream Kings mind? A son of our Sun and Moon? The birth child of Time itself? All we knew for sure was that it had always been there, and always would be. For how could you doubt the feel of the eternal and pressed down all around you when you entered upon it? How could you doubt it when you stood at its centre and watched the passing of the heavens above you, and yet still this forest remained un-changed? The days had only passed for me because I was a thing of my world, and a thing of time. I was not immortal, and my body would change as I grew, and my skin would wrinkle and eventually I would die. I was Time itself, here, and everywhere I went, time must follow. It was almost a bubble about me, this time. It affected none but me.

"And Shadow?" I interrupted him quickly. I had seen Shadow grow and change, surely he too, was in time.

Jacks face sobered instantly, and I caught his quick glance to the wolf that padded silently beside us. Shadow was still distant, lost, he made no response.

"That is something you must ask him yourself," Jack told me, and swiftly changed the subject.

The Fey had come to the forest, sometime between the Beginning and Now, and made it their home. Even the Phaerie did not the amount of fey who lived here, nor what specie or family to any exact number. The Masters of the Forest, he said, had little time for trivialities. The law of the Fallthorn was simple, all Fey could come. The Phaerie were not the Makers, and even they, in their lord-ship and power, were at the mercy of Fallthorn.

Jack spoke of many wonders that strange walk. He spoke of the Eternal Glade, its burning flame in the centre of its pool, and the stars above it, whirling in silver light. He told me of the Phaerie, his immortal masters, beautiful and terrifying, and the graceful movements as they walked about their forest, cowled in cloaks of midnight blue. He told me of the Dgmeare, men made of water who took the shape of leaping horses on the lake, and dragged unwary travellers to their deathless song. And the Dragons, ah! _The Dragons_. Not creatures of scale and lizard tongues, as had been painted in the Dukes books, but lords and ladies of fiery beauty, masters of the storms, who neared the power of the Phaerie themselves. Only one had he had ever seen, and he a Fey creature.

I despaired of never seeing these wonders.

He talked until we stopped beneath the shelter of a willow tree, (Willow tress were Love tress, he said, and the safest of Fallthorn), yet as we ducked under the heavy hanging vine-like foliage his flow of words halted, as if he realised he had said to much.

He looked at me a little sheepishly. "I talk too much," he said with a sigh, "and have revealed secrets few humans know."

He led me to the trunk of the Willow and laid his hand very gently against the bark. I watched a strange stiffness consumed him, and a gentle glow began to pour from his skin. His eyes closed and his alien face twisted a little in concentration. I closed my eyes also and almost instantly felt the power thrumming about me, alive and ancient, a heady mix of sweet and vicious. It was amoral, I thought. This forest knew no good and evil, for it harboured all of both.

After a moment Jacks eyes opened again, and he patted the tree playfully, with an easy comradeship that shocked me.

"She agrees to give us shelter," he smiled, "though she's a stubborn one, this Willow."

I returned the smile, but only because I did not know what else to do. I was a human who had ran with nymphs, and yet I knew nothing of this world. I felt the sharp edge of sadness sweep through me once more. Would anything I loved be truly understood?

Jack held out a hand and helped me up into its thick folds of branches and trunk and vines. A small nest awaited us there, just like the one Shadow and I had slept on among the nymphs. I sank down upon it with a grateful sigh, and pointly looked away when Shadow settled at my side. His eyes were no longer as blank as they had been, but they showed only a touch of life, and his mind was still a stranger to my own.

Jack lay down on my other side, and looked at me gently.

"Sprites do not sleep," he informed me with a gentle touch on my shoulder. "But you may rest your head on my arm if you like, and I will tell you stories until you dream again." He frowned a little as he said this. "A curious ability," he mused, "this ability to dream."

But I was too tired to think, to contemplate what he said. Too much had happened to me today, too much to think about and knew if I should try it would swamp me mercilessly.

Best to sleep, I thought as I laid my head down on jacks arm.

Best to sleep and not think at all.

XXXX


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

3 days passed, and there was no sign of change in Shadow, nor any suggestion that we neared the edge of the forest. Each day that passed I grew more nervous, convinced that this day would be my last within its shady halls and glades, my last night where I could sleep in a Willows arms, and that soon Jack would turn to me and wish me fare well, for he could go no further, and the mortal world waited just beyond that line of trees.

But that day would not yet come for many days, and I forced myself eventually to enjoy what moments I had left, than waste them worrying that every one might be my last.

I looked around me then with clear eyes, and observed every detail that allowed me sight. The way the sunlight played across the dark leaves, or the distant sound of tumbling water, the lazy call of a bird that pierced the quiet. To this day I can recall every colour and sound that graced my eyes and ears in that strange passing of days, every shade of follower or vine, every nuance of the birds calling, every Fey story that Jack told me to fill our time.

Everything, I remember with the clarity of one clutching at the last breaths of life, and it was all blanketed by the heavy silence of my own mind, and that of Shadows. Even Jacks laughing good humour, his flashing smile, could not fill the deep loneliness in my body. And the ache only seemed to spread. It was cruel; I thought then, that I would lose both Fallthorn and Shadow together. Could the Fates leave me nothing?

I should have known then, as I do know now, that Shadow would never leave me, so long as I wished him to stay.

On the 4rth day, Jack halted suddenly in his path, and held up his hand for silence. Both Shadow and I halted behind him, and watched him warily. I noted instantly the strange stiffness in his spine, so used to his impermanent gracefulness had I grown.

I wanted to ask him 'what is it?', but I did not. I took note of the hand, and waited penitently for him to divulge the cause of his sudden unrest. When I dropped my hand to Shadows back, unthinkingly, I pulled it back in surprise. I looked down at my wolf companion, and found him shrinking back with something like fear wild in his eyes. His whole body quivered with it, and when Jack suddenly left us, fading into the gloom that pressed all about us, Shadow pressed himself against my leg, and shuddered.

"What is it?" I whispered to him, forgetting for a moment that he had not spoken for days, and was unlikely to speak now, when he was frightened.

He didn't answer, though for a moment I had expected him to.

And when he made no reply, I forced myself to calm, and silenced my own frightened mind, and sent it out into the forest.

Had Jack left us already?

No, surely he could not have.

I drew the forest into me, unwitting, and searched for him in the gloom with my mortal eyes. Something was calling to me, I knew, pressing me forwards, forwards, like a heavy wait against my back, my chest, my legs. I felt something akin to falling, the whooshing of sound against me ears, my eyes, for a moment, the world blurred.

_Come come come come come…_

And when i came to, I was among the trees, fallen far from the path, and alone.

Fear fled me in an instant, replaced by a strange helpless calm. Something had drawn me here, but why?

I searched all around me with my eyes, but I could see naught but the strange gloom, a sign of pervading darkness. Had the day passed so soon? It could not have. And this darkness…it was unlike any I had experienced before, and seemed to fill my mind, until I could see nothing but shadows, spreading like cobwebs across my vision, my thoughts, locking me in place. And in those shadows…

I gasped.

Even from this distance I could see him. Jack stood in profile, facing a taller figure, shadowy, a heavy midnight cloak obscuring all but his silhouette. This figure did not have the strange leanness of Jack, nor had he the same press of power about him. I knew in an instant this was no sprite. Even from this distance, when I could not even make out fully their features, I felt the others presence. It was the shadows themselves that beat against my mind and had drawn me from the path. He was the strange gloom that had crept all about us on the path, that even Jack had not noticed until that moment when he had halted, and then leapt away, dissolving into the darkness. I thought of the strange summons, _come come come come. _There had been something achingly beautiful about that hissing voice, something that whispered in my mind even as it whispered in my ear.

They stood close, within reaching distance, but there was no intimacy in their stance. Jack looked shrunken, fearful. The figure in the midnight cloak was straight-backed, tall. All about him the cloak fell in folds, like rivers of the night-sky, and shifted and changed as the colour of the deepest ocean will. It melted into the ground at his feet, but it seemed as if it were not ground that he stood on, but a lake of dark shadow. And all about him, moonlight fell, though i knew it must not be past midday. Yet the silver light was all about him, as if drawn to him, encasing him in a misty embrace.

Before him, Jack stood in gloom, and upon a bed of dried leaves.

I remembered Jacks words then, breaking through the cob-webbing of the shadows in my mind. _You will know them then, they are creatures of Shadow and Light, and walk about this forest in cloaks of midnight blue. They are Fey like us, Masters, and yet apart. _

He had spoken of his Masters then, when he had spoken of the Phaerie. And this being who met with Jack, this being of shadows and gloom and the bright moonlight that cut the forest canopy, this was his Master.

And as I realised this, the shadows began to leave my mind, my body, and recede back into the trees that towered above me. It was as if the realisation broke their power over me, and I felt my mind clear. Yet even as the shadows receded, I still saw clearly the two figures standing before me, a little way off, solid now, no longer shadow-spawn images of my mind.

The being cloaked in midnight blue, as if alerted by my recognition, turned his head in that moment, and looked at me.

To this very day, I cannot describe what i felt in that moment. For all fey are magnificent, but none so much as the Phaerie, the greatest of this realm. And i had been in his power for those few moments, and now, when he turned his head towards me, he thrust all that power at my mind, as if in challenge, defiance.

I felt the breath leave my body in an icy expulsion, and yet the warmth of my blood became searing. I felt my skin goose-bump, but not in cold, but in heat. My head whirled and yet was achingly clear, my world tilted and yet I still stood still, just as I had been before, on two feet in the shadowy forest. And all around me, his presence whirled, and I was both frightened and fearless, and among that a kind of bone-deep recognition, though it was a truth my entire being would deny.

And yet despite this whirlpool of feelings, of changeling emotions, I could see little of him, save that he was male, and human-like in appearance, despite his aura of shadows, his strange minions of darkness. But I could not make out his features; they were but a hazy swirl, concealed by his heavy cowl. His eyes alone I saw, the brightest gold I had seen, brighter even than Shadows, that seemed to pierce me mercilessly, and sear towards my very soul. And his hair also, framing his face in colourless brilliance, that seemed to shine with a strange glow, as the moon does, and as the silver light that fell about him did, and yet his hair hair had its own light, as if it were the moon itself.

And even as I met his eyes unflinchingly, for still I felt that strange helplessness in my limbs, but the explosion of courage in my body, he turned and glided away, and was lost, dissolved into the trees like the shadows that had crept upon my mind. Jack stood alone now, and was watching me also, still shrunken, still lost.

He made no move to come to me.

And then, as if from a great distance, I heard a faint call.

_Ria Ria, where have you gone? _

It was filled with great pain, and terror, and I answered it almost unthinkingly, while feeling a strange sense of familiarity I had not felt for a time. _I am here. _I gave no directions. I knew he would find me.

And then he was there, his coat gleaming moonlight, the darkness underneath the night sky, his gold eyes blazing with fear. But not fear for himself, that had trapped him on the path just moments ago, but fear for me, and for losing me, and I saw Alexander in his eyes then, and the aching call of his body.

He fell towards me, and fell upon me, and his coat was warm and comforting under my hands, and I almost laughed with the sheer delight of it all, to have him back, and have his mind against mine once more. But I could not laugh, for his voice still quivered in my thoughts, velvety and warm and safe.

_Ria Ria I thought I had lost you. Why would you stray from the path? _

I pulled back and stared into his eyes, and I saw the ghost of the Phaerie in them, that stranger cloaked in midnight sky, in the deepest stretches of the ocean. I ran my hands through his moonlit coat, more hair than fur, and thought of the strangers own colourless mane. Were there different kinds of Phaerie? I wondered. Was he, in truth, a Phaerie Wolf? Or just a toy of theirs, spent to long in their company that he had begun to resemble them? For I had no doubt that he had had another life before he came to me. I had seen it that first time, when he had quivered among the shelter of branches and vines, and looked into the baby blue eyes of a wolf cub, and seen the deep intelligence of a fey creature.

He stiffened in my arms as I thought all this, and I felt him draw back a little, and was hurt. Why would he not share his heritage with me? He knew all of my secrets, could I not know but one of his?

I stared into his golden eyes, and caught the fear that still lingered there. It was a wild fear, the fear that children have of the darkness beneath their bed, or the fear of swelling, powerful water. It was unexplainable, but true none-the-less, and it followed us through our darkest moments. These fears must be overcome, I knew, or they could conquer us.

_You fear them, _I said to him, it was less a question than a statement of truth.

His eyes filled with a strange pain, and then lowered from mine. _We all fear them, Ria, _he told me quietly. I felt the ache in his voice. Pain and fear, I thought. Had he loved them? Had he loved them as I had loved Michael, though I had parted from him eventually?

But could I press him further? No. truly I could not. Perhaps if I had I would have found the truth then and there, but I could not press him so hard, when he was so vulnerable, and had just newly come back to my arms.

"I am glad you came back," I whispered to him, and drew him closer again. I felt his heavy weight against me as he finally gave up, and pressed against me, shaking. His whole body shook, and I petted him gently from neck to tail, murmuring to him.

His answer came finally, even though I had not asked for it.

_I would never leave you. Never again._

XXXX


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**A short chapter, yes I know, I'm sorry. But I wanted the leaving part to all be one chapter, and well. I'd already written this and wanted to get it up. No use leaving you all hanging. **

**Chapter 9**

Shadow had returned to me, yes, but not fully. Always he seemed to walk the thin line between here and there, and at times he grew distant, and would not talk, and other times he was chatty and happy, as if determined to keep his mind from what he feared so greatly, and upon our journey we still undertook.

It had been days now, since the Phaerie had met with Jack, and he had not told what passed between them, only that they must hurry to the edge of the forest. And I would know, when we reached the edge, what must happen. These words made me shiver lightly with fear. For had I not always feared the Unknown?

And then, beside it all, I felt the forest trail creep towards its ending, and all about me I felt the trees thin, become less magical, and the looming presence of the inner forest lessened and released us. Eternity stilled, and returned to its sleep, marching on eternally within the glades of the depths of Fallthorn. But here, as we neared the mortal world, it had no place. Humans must run their world by hours, not millennia. Eternity had no place in the air of change that followed and crept behind every mortal that walked the realm.

Eternity was for the stars.

Jack spoke less and less now as we neared our destination. He had, upon returning from the Phaerie Lord, attempted his normal humour, but his flashing smile had faded quicker than it had come, and his stories halted in mid-sentence, and he could find no words to finish them. He loped ahead of us, long-limbed, graceful, his alien eyes resuming their curious blankness, his copper curls fading a little in the dusty sunlight that stretched easily through thinner canopy.

This part of the forest, he told me, was not for the Fey.

Even Shadow himself seemed to fade a little. The moonlight gleam of his coat faded and became the silver of an ordinary wolf, and his blazing golden eyes, unleashed since his return to me, softened to light amber.

One morning I woke, and found the sprite staring down at me with blank human eyes, and a sad smile on his now ordinary face.

"We are too close to the edge now," he said softly, looking away from me as if he were ashamed, "for me to risk my true appearance."

I sat up slowly from the nest of leaves he had gathered for Shadow and myself, and reached out my hand gently to touch his cheek. It was baby smooth beneath my fingers, and cool to the touch.

I said nothing to him, for what could I say? That I missed his fey eyes? His flashing smile? For I did. But there could be no point to such words, Jacks final change was his farewell. We had grown close to the mortal world now, too close to farewell. He would say farewell to me a human, or not at all.

It made final to me what I had already known as we had passed from the last line of densely packed trees and into the field-like forest of sunlight. I had already left the world of the Fey behind.

Jack saw all of this in my eyes, but he could only smile - a sad imitation of its formal brilliance - and rise to his feet and walk away. I did not try to follow him.

_We near the edge, _Shadow said gently, and I turned around to find him sitting still on his mat, his eyes turned away from me, having followed the sprite from my side. Eventually, his eyes, amber now, turned back to mine. _Do you mourn?_

I looked at him curiously, sensing the hint of tension in his voice. It was still velvety, smooth, but had the under-coat of steel to it. Shadow was not happy.

_I have already mourned Fallthorn, _I replied cautiously, holding his gaze, speaking to his mind.

Something rose up in Shadows eyes then, something dark and deep I had never seen before. I forced myself not to look away, but held my place, though I knew my knuckles clenched against the leaves of our matt.

_Do you mourn the sprite, _he demanded of me instead, and the steel in his voice became harsh suddenly, jagged, no longer cloaked in deceptive gentleness.

I blinked in shock. _Of course, _I replied to him, even more cautious now. _Just as I mourned the nymphs. He guided us well. _

Shadow stood then, and something shuddered along his whole body, silver-clad as it was. _He told good stories, _he finally said, looking away from me and pretending interest in the trunk of our willow tree instead.

I spoke out loud now, sensing the danger, whatever it was, had passed. "Yes," I agreed, still hesitant. "He told me many things. Things I'd never been told before." I didn't mean to sound accusing, but it came out in my speech anyway, and Shadow stiffened defensively.

_Take care not to be won over by mere tales; _there was a hint of scorn and derision in his voice that I did not understand. When Jack had told us tales, Shadow had seemed to enjoy them as much as I.

"I like the tales," I replied, slightly annoyed now. "There's nothing wrong with that."

Shadow refused to reply, and leapt lightly down from the matt onto the forest floor. I followed him slowly, less gracefully, I was not a wolf afterall, and for all that the nymphs had attempted to teach me the art of jumping and leaping with a predator's grace, I had not taken to it well.

Shadow didn't speak or comment when I joined him, as he usually did, with laughing derision. He only looked at me a little impatiently before trotting lightly away. _Come, _his voice floated back to me before I lost sight of him on the forest trail, _we have no time to dawdle_.

XXXX


End file.
